BY Karuna Thapa
Kathmandu, March 9
Finance Minister Janardan Sharma ‘Prabhakar’ has stated that if the country could become self-sufficient at the local level, it would be a significant step forward. Minister Sharma stated that through reforming federalism, the local level should be encouraged to build the country during a meeting with officials from the National Natural Resources and Finance Commission on Tuesday afternoon at the Ministry of Finance.
”If the local level becomes self-sufficient in all sectors, including production, the private sector, employment, and natural resources,” he continued, ”the country will go forward.” ‘At the local level, there may be some unfavorable aspects.
”However, there has been a lot of great work done at the local level,” he remarked. He stated that much work needed to be done at the local level to prevent the sickness from spreading and to save people from the Covid outbreak.
Members of the Commission, including Chairman Balananda Poudel, gave a presentation on
‘Intergovernmental Financial Relations’ to aid in the budget planning for the Fiscal Year 2079/80. Finance Minister Sharma responded to the presentation by saying that the federal system should continue to function as is, with a focus on the country’s growth.
He emphasized the need of using the local level to mobilize resources. He believes that the
federal government should not always tighten its hold and instead establish an atmosphere
that encourages local resource management. ”The government should not constantly be holding debt and money.” If the municipality wants to raise taxes, he believes the federal government should help, even if it has to borrow money.
He claimed he had experience pushing for budget decentralization if there was a minister in
place while Sharma was putting the federal system in place.
”This system is founded on the Nepalese people’s significant sacrifices, hardships, growth possibilities, and experience. Since the period of Prithvi Narayan Shah, we have been overhauling the government structure. ”As a result, we must move forward with development rather than devaluation,” he stated.
